After initially rejecting the tentative agreements that ended an eight-day strike that shut down much of the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, clerical workers have voted to ratify the contracts.

Members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit voted Wednesday on the terms of the contracts reached by negotiators Dec. 4, it was announced late that night after the voting.

The contracts concerning about 600 clerical workers and 14 employers will run through June 30, 2016, according to a joint statement from Office Clerical Unit lead negotiator John Fageaux and Stephen Berry, lead negotiator for the Harbor Employers Association.

"The approved agreements, to be finalized in coming days, are good for workers, good for employers and - most of all - important in ensuring smooth operations at our Southern California ports," they said in the statement. "Our local, regional and national economies depend on these ports, and the agreements ratified tonight pave the way for continued growth in the years ahead."

Fageaux and Berry couldn't be reached for further comment Thursday.

Earlier this month, representatives for the employers said the 16 clerical worker bargaining units had failed to ratify the agreements, leading to concerns of another port slowdown.

More than two years of talks crumbled between the two sides in late November because clerical workers feared that terminal companies had been moving jobs to lower-wage workers in other states and countries. Management negotiators denied the accusations and said the new contracts would need to stop providing temporary and permanent jobs to workers when there was no work to perform.

Because longshore workers were allowed to honor the strike, it led to the largest near-shutdown of the nation's busiest seaport complex in a decade, effectively closing 10 of 14 terminals and slowing goods movement to the rest of the nation.

More than 60 percent of goods that move through the two ports are bound for destinations outside of Southern California.

Meanwhile, ships were left stranded in the water and at the docks awaiting a chance to unload, and many were forced to divert to ports elsewhere.

After an eight-day strike, a tentative agreement had been reached by both parties with the help of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and a federal mediator.

According to the Harbor Employers Association, the proposed contract covers the period of July 2010 through June 2016 and would be effective upon ratification. It includes job guarantees, raises, the ability to reduce 14 full-time positions through attrition and a one-time $4,000 payment covering increases clerical workers would have had during the past 30 months.

Officials at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles said they were pleased to see both sides come to an agreement.

"A stable work force is a critical component of our Port's success and helps ensure that the hundreds of thousands of trade-related jobs stay here in Southern California," Port of Long Beach spokesman Daniel Yi said. "We commend the employers and the union for reaching a resolution."